San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LGBTQ LAWMAKERS LOOK TO MAKE STATES A REFUGE FOR TRANS YOUTHS
20 states vow or are working to offer legal shield to families
For the past few months, Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat, has kept a close eye on the bills neighboring states have been proposing — bills that aim to curb the rights of transgender children from participating in youth sports, accessing bathrooms and getting gender affirming health care.
There’s Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah, which all passed laws barring transgender kids — with a focus on girls, in particular — from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. In Kansas, a similar bill passed the state Senate, but was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. And in Idaho, lawmakers sought to criminalize the act of seeking gender-affirming care out of state.
Then there’s Texas, where earlier this year, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott directed child welfare services to investigate gender-affirming care for children as “child abuse.”
“I’ve been getting referrals from people in different states, especially Texas, because they feel like they can’t live there anymore,” Titone said.
Colorado, unlike many of the states encircling it, has moved to advance LGBTQ rights in recent years: a “blue state in a sea of red,” Titone said. But that’s not enough, she said: “We need to work to support people outside of Colorado.”
On Tuesday, Titone joined a group of LGBTQ legislators across the country who announced plans to offer refuge to transgender youths and their families amid a wave of ANTI-LGBTQ legislation, much of it directed toward transgender kids.
Legislators say the effort was inspired by “sanctuary” laws that have similarly shielded undocumented immigrants, and, more recently, those seeking abortions from states where that care has been restricted and/ or criminalized.
“The trigger was the state of Texas pledging to strip trans kids from their parents,” said Annise Parker, who leads the Victory Institute, an LGBTQ advocacy group. The organization helped convene state legislators so they could network and discuss strategy, Parker said.
“We were working on defense, state by state,” she said. “And it was time to begin to coordinate and come together on offense as a group.”
So far, 20 states have pledged to or have already introduced bills that offer a legal shield to families displaced by ANTI-LGBTQ policies, as well as physicians who provide gender-affirming care. Some are calling it a “rainbow wall.”
The Victory Institute said lawmakers have been in conversation about the trans refuge legislation since midapril. But Politico’s publication of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that showed five justices were ready to overturn Roe v. Wade highlights the urgency of passing these protections, LGBTQ lawmakers say.
Roe provides the legal underpinning for the right to privacy and autonomy, which has also shielded LGBTQ individuals from discrimination, Massachusetts state Sen. Julian Cyr, a Democrat, said. Many of the states that have proposed or passed anti-trans policies have also set their sights on banning abortion, should the Supreme Court end Roe.
Many conservative lawmakers who have proposed bills curbing LGBTQ rights say their goal is to protect children.
Alabama state Rep. Wes Allen, a Republican, who championed the state’s ban on gender-affirming health care, compared the law to others that ban minors from drinking alcohol or vaping.
“This legislation is about protecting children from making decisions as children that their brains are not yet developed enough to understand,” he said. “Just as we do not allow children, even with parental permission, to drink alcohol or vape, we passed this legislation to protect children.”
In California, a proposed sanctuary bill could serve as a template for other states.
The bill, S.B. 107, would reject out-of-state judgments that remove trans kids from their parents based on their parents allowing their child to receive gender-affirming care. It would also bar providers from complying with out-ofstate subpoenas seeking health or related information about people who get gender-affirming care in the state.